System and methods for providing financial account information over a network

ABSTRACT

A system and method for providing financial account messages to customers while accessing web sites is disclosed. Methods, systems and articles of manufacture consistent with the present invention enable a financial account issuer to provide an application to customer&#39;s computer system over a network. The application may be configured to provide various messages associated with the customer&#39;s financial account provided by the financial account issuer while the customer browses web sites. The financial account messages may be configured to provide interactive and dynamically changing account status information based on attempted purchases of goods and/or services by the customer at merchants&#39; web sites. The application may also be configured to provide rating information associated with web sites accessed by the customer.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to on-line financial account presentationsystems. More particularly, the invention relates to systems and methodsfor electronically providing financial account information to a clientsystem while the client system accesses a web server over a network.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

On-line advertising and content provision has grown tremendously sincethe inception of the Internet and on-line services. Users can access awide variety of information associated with their interests by using theInternet and accessing Web sites generated by providers. A computerequipped with a program called a browser, such as Netscape Navigatorfrom Netscape Corporation, makes it a simple task to traverse the vastnetwork of information available on the Internet and, specifically, itssubpart known as the “World Wide Web.”

The architecture of the Web follows a conventional client-server model.The tell is “client” and “server” are used to refer to a computer'sgeneral role as a requester of data (the client) or provider of data(the server). Under the Web environment, Web browsers reside in clientsand specially formatted “Web documents” reside on Internet (Web)servers. Web clients and Web servers communicate using a protocol called“HyperText Transfer Protocol” (HTTP).

In operation, a browser opens a connection to a server and initiates arequest for a document or a Web page including content. The serverdelivers the requested document or Web page, typically in the form codedin a standard “HyperText Markup Language” (HTML) format. After thedocument or Web page is delivered, the connection is closed and thebrowser displays the document or Web page to the user.

The Internet consists of a worldwide computer network that communicatesusing well defined protocol known as the Internet Protocol (IP).Computer systems and servers that are directly connected to the Interneteach have an unique address consisting of four numbers separated byperiods such as “123.456.0.3”. To simplify Internet addressing, a“Domain Name System” was created that allows users to access Internetresources with a simpler alphanumeric naming system. For example, thename “capitalone.com” is the name for a computer system or Web serveroperated by Capital One®.

To further define the addresses of resources on the Internet, a UniformResource Locator system was created that uses a Uniform Resource Locator(URL) as a descriptor that specifically defines a type of Internetresource and its location. URLs have the following format:“resource-type://domain.address/path-name.” The “resource-type” definesthe type of Internet resource. Web documents, for example, areidentified by the resource type “http”, which indicates the protocolused to access the document.

To access a document on the Web, the user enters a URL for the Webdocument into a browser program executing on a client system with aconnection to the Internet. The Web browser then sends a request inaccordance with the HTTP protocol to the Web server that has the Webdocument using the URL. The Web server responds to the request bytransmitting the requested object to the client. In most cases, theobject is a plain text document containing text (in ASCII) that iswritten in HTML. Such objects often contain hyperlinks to other Webdocuments. The Web browser displays the HTML document on the screen forthe user and the hyperlinks to other Web documents are emphasized insome fashion such that the user can select the hyperlink.

In some instances, the HTML document may contain data from more than oneserver. For example, remote text and images may be retrieved from remoteservers and integrated into a Web document by a client system. Oneserver may provide an image file, while another server may provide textinformation to the client system over a network such as the Internet.Different techniques are available to display these types of compositeWeb documents. For example, a program called a servlet executing on oneOf the servers may combine data from the various servers referenced in aselected Web document and transmit the composite Web document to theclient. In other configurations, the client may utilize a program calledan applet, which may be transmitted to the client from one of theservers, to access the multiple servers offering parts of the compositeand to build the composite Web document.

Generally, users view the content delivered in the Web pages and mayselect hyperlinks to other sub pages of a Web site, or to entirelydifferent Web sites. Providers associate the users “browsing” these Webpages as potential consumers for the products and services they provide.By simply providing a Web server having information on a providers'product and/or service offerings and a customer database, and linkingthe Web server to the Web, providers may track user interactions withthe Web server including visits, sales, buying trends andproduct/service preferences—all at the user level. Providers may thenpresent or offer its customers with products and services they are mostlikely to buy—on an individual basis. For this reason alone, mostmarketing professionals consider the Web to be one of the best directmarketing tools. In order to gain new or retain existing customers,providers need to ensure they present products and services thatpotential consumers are interested in. Accordingly, the importance oftarget advertising and target content provision has become an importantrole in the way providers conduct business over the Internet.

One conventional technique associated with target advertising is the useof advertising banners presented on existing Web pages generated byproviders. When a user accesses a Web page associated with a provider,using a Web browser such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft InternetExplorer, a banner advertising the provider's products or servicesappears on the Web page. This banner may be presented by the Web page'sprovider, or may be provided by a third party advertisement server. Whenan interested user selects the advertisement (by “clicking through” onthe banner) the user is generally forwarded to another Web page or siteassociated with the advertisement. This page or site may be the thirdparty advertiser's home page. The success of the advertisement is basedupon the user's response, in this case, the user “clicking through” theadvertisement or banner, to receive more information on the contentadvertised.

Another electronic advertising method employed is the local storing ofadvertisements on a user's local computer system, as disclosed in U.S.Pat. No. 5,913,040, entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TRANSMITTING ANDDISPLAYING INFORMATION BETWEEN A REMOTE NETWORK AND A LOCAL COMPUTER,”and expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Themethod and system disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,913,040 not only allowsadvertisements to be displayed while a user reviews a web page, but theadvertisements may also be presented when the user is not on-line andaccessing a web site. Also, the user may select categories ofadvertisements to be displayed. The advertisements are transparentlydownloaded from a network server to a user's local computer system by amonitoring the traffic on a communications link associated with theuser's computer system. When the utilization rate of the communicationslink is low, the network server “politely” pushes small portions of theadvertisements to the user's computer system.

Although the system and method disclosed by the U.S. Pat. No. 5,913,040may better target customers for advertisements than conventional systemsby employing user controlled profiles, the advertisements themselves aregenerally statically designed, and merely present information describinggoods and/or services the user's may or may not already have obtained.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore desirable to have a method and system that enables anetwork server to target potential customers for advertising when theyare at the point of purchase at another web site, and dynamicallyproviding interactive information associated with a good and/or servicethat is presented as content rendered on the customer's display.

Methods, systems and articles of manufacture consistent with the presentinvention enable a client system to receive an application from anetwork server (maintained by a credit issuer) that identifies aparticular web site accessed by the client system through a network,such as the Internet. The application may be configured to determinewhether the accessed web site is included in a list of web sites createdby the network server, and if so provides a message on top of a webbrowser window. The messages may be displayed as banner type windows, asrolling ticker messages that scroll across a portion of the viewing areaof the display device, or as a separate pop-up window. In one aspect ofthe invention, the message may include information reflecting discountsfor a particular item offered by the accessed web site, if the user usesa financial account, such as a credit account, provided by the creditissuer to purchase the items. Alternatively, the message may include amessage that indicates a discount if the user purchases the particularitem at an alternate web site using the credit account.

Additionally, methods, systems and articles of manufacture enable theapplication to access status information associated with the creditaccount. The status information may be used to generate a message thatindicates selected information associated with the credit account on topof a web browser window rendered at the client system. The informationmay include, for example, a current credit limit, outstanding balance,payment data, and finance fees associated with the credit account.Furthermore, in one aspect of the invention, the information may beassociated with a good and/or service a customer is attempting topurchase at the web site. The information may be dynamically adjusted topresent how the purchase of the good and/or service may affect thecredit account. For instance, the message may present informationreflecting a new outstanding balance and finance charges associated withthe credit account if used to purchase the good and/or service. Inanother aspect of the invention, the message may include an indicationthat the credit limit associated with the credit account will beexceeded if the good and/or service is purchased by the user using thecredit account. And, in addition to the credit limit indication, themessage may include an offer to increase the credit limit if the goodand/or service is purchased using the credit account.

Also, methods, systems and articles of manufacturer consistent withfeatures and principles of the present invention may configure theapplication to present an interactive message associated with a creditaccount corresponding to a user accessing a web site. The interactivemessage may allow a user to determine how long it would take to pay offthe amount associated with a particular good and/or service purchasedfrom the web site using the credit account. Alternatively, theinteractive message may allow a user to determine the amount of paymentswould need to be made to the credit issuer for a selected length of timeto pay off the amount associated with a particular good and/or servicepurchased from the web site using the credit account.

Additionally, methods, systems and articles of manufacturer consistentwith features and principles of the present invention may provide amessage including a rating of a particular web site accessed by theclient system. The rating may be associated with fraudulent activitiescorresponding to the web site. Furthermore, the message may allow a userto provide a personal rating value associated with the accessed web sitethat may be used by the network server to update the rating associatedwith the accessed web site.

Furthermore, methods, systems and articles of manufacturer consistentwith features and principles of the present invention may present amessage including information associated with alternate web sites thatoffer a particular good and/or service that a user is attempting topurchase at a currently accessed web site.

Accordingly, methods, systems, and articles of manufacturer, enable acredit issuer to provide dynamic and interactive messages to itscustomers while they access web sites to possible purchase goods and/orservices electronically. The messages may be customized by the customersto allow them to view information associated with credit accountsprovided by the credit issuer. Additionally, the credit issuer mayprovide discounts to the customers for purchasing goods and/or servicesat a currently accessed web site, or at alternate web sites.

Additional advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in thedescription which follows, and in part will be obvious from thedescription, or may be learned by practice of the invention. Theadvantages of the invention will be realized and attained by means ofthe elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the appendedclaims. It is to be understood that both the foregoing generaldescription and the following detailed description are exemplary andexplanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate several embodiments of theinvention and together with the description, serve to explain theprinciples of the invention. In the drawings,

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of an environment fromwhich methods and systems consistent with features and principles of thepresent invention may be implemented;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary flow chart of a message process,consistent with features and principles of the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary flowchart of a message determiningprocess, consistent with features and principles of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary flowchart of discount processes,consistent with features and principles of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary flowchart of an alternate site process,consistent with features and principles of the present invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary flowchart of an account status process,consistent with features and principles of the present invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary flowchart of an interactive accountstatus process, consistent with features and principles of the presentinvention;

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary flowchart of an alternate item process,consistent with features and principles of the present invention; and

FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary flowchart of a rating process,consistent with features and principles of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Methods, systems, and articles of manufacture consistent with thepresent invention enable a credit issuer to provide messages tocustomers associated with a credit account provided by the creditissuer. The credit issuer provides a software application to a clientsystem operated by the customer over a network, such as the Internet.The application may be configured to determine when the customer hasaccessed a web site and determine a type of message to display on top ofa web browser window. The criteria may include, but is not limited to,whether the customer is attempting purchase a good and/or service fromthe web site, the current status of the credit account associated withthe customer, whether the web site is included in a list of web sitesmaintained by the credit issuer, and whether the web site is included ina web site rating table maintained by the credit issuer.

The types of messages that may be displayed vary according to the abovedescribed criteria, as well as customer defined options that are offeredby the credit issuer. The messages that may be created by methods andsystems consistent with features of the present invention include, butare not limited to: (1) current account status information associatedwith a credit account corresponding to a customer attempting to purchasea good and/or service at a web site; (2) dynamic account statusinformation reflecting potential changes to the credit account that mayoccur if the customer purchases the good and/or service; (3) offers toextend a credit limit associated with the credit account when the creditlimit would be exceeded if the customer purchased the good and/orservice; (4) alternate web sites that offer the good and/or service,possibly at a cheaper price; and (5) an interactive message that allowsa customer to selectively determine changes to the status of the creditaccount based on the price of the good and/or service. Additionally, themessages may include a ranking value associated with an accessed website that may reflect a determined category rank established by thecredit issuer.

Therefore, as described above, and explained in further detail below,methods and systems consistent with features and principles of thepresent invention dynamically provide information associated with acredit account to customers while they access web sites. The informationmay be presented as messages on top of a web browser window thatdisplays a web page at a computer system used by the customer.Accordingly, customers may receive useful credit account information andmessages as they browse web sites, and possible attempt to purchasegoods and/or services from these sites.

Reference will now be made in detail to the exemplary embodiments of theinvention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be usedthroughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.

The above-noted features and other aspects and principles of the presentinvention may be implemented in various environments. Such environmentsand related applications may be specially constructed for performing thevarious processes and operations of the invention or they may include ageneral purpose computer or computing platform selectively activated orreconfigured by program code to provide the necessary functionality. Theprocesses disclosed herein are not inherently related to any particularcomputer or other apparatus, and may be implemented by a suitablecombination of hardware, software, and/or firmware. For example, variousgeneral purpose machines may be used with programs written in accordancewith teachings of the invention, or it may be more convenient toconstruct a specialized apparatus or system to perform the requiredmethods and techniques.

The present invention also relates to computer readable media thatinclude program instruction or program code for performing variouscomputer-implemented operations based on the methods and processes ofthe invention. The program instructions may be those specially designedand constructed for the purposes of the invention, or they may be of thekind well-known and available to those having skill in the computersoftware arts. Examples of program instructions include for examplemachine code, such as produced by a compiler, and files containing ahigh level code that can be executed by the computer using aninterpreter.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system environment 100 in which thefeatures and principles of the invention may be implemented. Asillustrated in FIG. 1, the system environment 100 may include a network110, client systems 120-1 to 120-N, web servers 130-1 to 130-N, networkserver 140 and database 144, both of which may be associated with acredit issuer 150. Also, included within each client system 120-1 to120-N, may be an application 125.

Network 110 interconnects client systems 110-1 to 110-N, web servers130-1 to 130-N, and network server 140. Network 110 may include one ormore communication networks, including the Internet or any other similarnetwork that supports Web-based processing. Client systems 120-1 to120-N may connect to network 140 through any suitable wired or wirelesssupported connection.

Client systems 120-1 to 120-N may include a desktop computer,workstation, laptop, personal digital assistant or any other similarclient side system known in the art. For example, client systems 120-1to 120-N may include a processor, associated memory, and numerous otherelements and functionalities typical in today's computer systems. Theseelements may include input means such as a keyboard and a mouse,although in an accessible environment these input means may take otherforms. Also included with each client system 120-1 to 120-N may be anoutput device such as a display, which may also take a different form inan accessible environment. Client systems 120-1 to 120-N may be equippedwith browser software such as Netscape Navigator, Microsoft InternetExplorer, or any other known browser software. In one aspect of theinvention, client systems 120-1 to 120-N may be associated withcustomers of credit issuer 150 that provides credit accounts used by thecustomers. These customers may use a client system 120-1 to 120-N toconnect to network 110 and gain access to web pages provide by webservers 130-1 to 130-N. Furthermore, client systems 120-1 to 120-N maycommunicate with network server 140 through network 110.

Application 125 may be software that is provided by network server 140(or credit card issuer 150) and performs functions consistent withfeatures and principles of the present invention. Application 125 may bestored in any memory device contained in or associated with clientsystem 120-1 to 120-N, such as a hard drive or local memory that mayconsist of, but is not limited to, a disk storage device, an opticalstorage device, and a semiconductor storage device.

Web servers 130-1 to 130-N may be implemented through a desktopcomputer, workstation or any other web server system known in the art.Web servers 130-1 to 130-N may be equipped with web server software suchas, Microsoft Internet Information Server, Novell Web Server, NetscapeEnterprise Server, or any other Web server software known in the art.Web servers 130-1 to 130-N maintain and provide web sites that includeone or more web pages that may be accessed over network 110 by clientsystems 120-1 to 120-N, and network server 140. Web servers 130-1 to130-N may be associated with merchant network servers, and provide goodsand/or services for sale over network 110, through the implementation ofcommon electronic commerce techniques.

Network server 140 may provide application 125 consistent with featuresand principles of the present invention that may be downloaded to clientsystems 120-1 to 120-N. Network server 140 may also be associated with acredit issuer (150) and maintains credit account information for eachcustomer accessing network 110 through a client system 120-1 to 120-N.

Database 144 connects to network server 140, and may store creditaccount information associated with customers of credit issuer 150.Database 144 may include a database or flat file data store, or may alsoinclude a flat file data store that flushes its stored data to anotherremote database for reliability and access time purposes. Furthermore,database 144 may include a redundant database that ensure data isavailable in the event a primary storage element experiences a fault orerror. A multitude of fault tolerant architectures may be implemented toensure data consistency and availability.

Credit issuer 150 may be an entity that provides financial accounts,such as credit cards, to customers. These customers may have access toclient systems 120-1 to 120-N to purchases goods and/or services fromweb sites provided by web servers 130-1 to 130-N.

It should be noted that the configuration of system environment 100 isexemplary and not intended to be limiting. Any number of elements andconnections may be implemented without departing from the scope of thepresent invention. In one aspect of the invention, the elements includedin system environment 100 perform functions consistent with features andprinciples of the present invention. These functions may includeproviding credit account information to customers through network server140 and client systems 120-1 to 120-N. The manner by which thisinformation is provided to a customer may be through application 125which may be provided by network server 140 and down loaded to clientsystem 120-1 to 120-N.

Application 125 may be software that performs selected functionsconsistent with features and principles of the present invention. Thissoftware may be configured to monitor the network usage of itsassociated client system 120, as well as provide credit account relatedmessages to a browser operating in the client system such that themessages are displayed on top of a browser window that includes anaccessed web page.

Application 125 may be provided to client systems 120-1 to 120-N throughthe interaction between a customer and credit issuer 150, either throughnetwork server 140, or by other means, such as telephonically andconventional mail. In one aspect of the invention, customers request andregister to receive application 125 from credit issuer 150. Onceregistered, network server 140 may download application 125 to a clientsystem 120-1 to 120-N identified by the customer as the system they wishto have application 125 stored. Network server 140 may provideapplication 125 using standard Internet communication protocols. In oneaspect of the invention, network server 140 may use the “polite push”techniques disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,913,040 to download theapplication to a registered customer's client system while the system isconnected to network 110 while the network utilization rate is low.Alternately, the application may be provided in the form of a disketteor optical disc sent to the customer through conventional mail services.The customer would then store the application into the local memory oftheir client system 120-1 to 120-N. Once stored at a client system 120-1to 120-N, application 125 is activated when the client system starts-up.

In one aspect of the invention, the customer may select a customermessage option when registering application 125. The customer messageoption allows the customer to tailor the types of messages that will begenerated by application 125, and may include, but is not limited to, adiscount message, an alternate site message, an account status message,an interactive account status message, an alternate item message, and arating message. Each of these messages will be described in furtherdetail with reference to FIGS. 3-9. The customer may select one or moreof these message that they wish to be generated while accessing websites provided by web servers 130-1 to 130-N.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary flow chart of the steps performed by theapplication stored at a client system 120-1 to 120-N, consistent withfeatures and principles of the present invention. As previouslydescribed, when a customer starts-up their client system 120-1 to 120-Nat boot-up, application 125 is activated and begins monitoring theactivities of the client system 120-1 to 120-N for an indication ofaccess to network 110 (Step 210). This indication may be associated witha customer attempting to access network 110 in order to communicate witha web server 130-1 to 130-N. Of course, other entities attached tonetwork 110 (not shown) may be accessed by client systems 120-1 to120-N.

When client system 120-1 to 120-N accesses a web site provided by a webserver 130-1 to 130-N, the browser executing within the client systemrenders a web page that is associated with the accessed web site. Atthis point, application 125 may detect that the user has accessed a website (Step 220), and begins to retrieve credit account informationassociated with the registered customer associated with the application125 stored on client system 120-1 to 120-N (Step 230). The creditaccount information may include parameters associated with a creditaccount provided by credit issuer 150 and held by the customer who hasregistered the application 125 stored in client system 120-1 to 120-N.The parameters may include, but is not limited to, current credit limitdata, current outstanding balance data, previous purchase data, previousfinance charges, previous payment data, upcoming payments that may bedue, outstanding payments that are due, and any other data associatedwith a credit account.

The term “current” in the above examples may be associated with the lasttime a parameter for a credit account was updated by credit issuer 150.That is, a credit account may or may not have had transactions appliedto it before the credit account information is retrieved by application125, and before credit issuer 150 has updated the credit account toreflect the transaction. For example, a credit account may have acurrent account balance of $500 on Jul. 1, 2001. On the same day, a $200purchase may be made with the account, reducing the actual creditaccount balance to $300. In this example, however credit issuer 150 mayupdate accounts every day at a predetermined time. Therefore, if acustomer associated with this hypothetical credit account wishes toreceive current account status information before credit issuer 150 hasupdated the account balance to $300, application 125 may process and usethe last current account balance it has access to, which in this casemay be $500.

Methods, systems and articles of manufacturer, consistent with thepresent invention, may keep the credit account information current usingvarious techniques. In one aspect of the invention, application 125 mayutilize the polite push techniques disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,913,040to transparently transfer the current credit account information fromnetwork server 140 to client system 120-1 to 120-N. In this aspect ofthe invention, application 125 may recognize when client system 120-1 to120-N has established communications with network 110, and initiates arequest for the most recent credit account information for the customerassociated with the registered application making the request. Thisrequest would be initiated when application 125 recognizes a lowutilization rate with network 110. Network server 140 receives therequest, collects the appropriate credit account information fromdatabase 144, and transfers the collected information to the application125 that initiated the request.

Alternatively, application 125 may be configured to access the creditaccount information from network server 140 regardless of the networkutilization rate associated with the client system 120-1 to 120-N. Thatis, as soon as communications are established with network 110,application 125 may initiate a request to download the most recentcredit account information from network server 140.

Another manner by which the credit account information is kept up todate may be periodic pushes from network server 140 in response torequests from application 125 when its host client system 120-1 to 120-Nhas established communications with network 110. In this aspect of theinvention, application 125 may keep track of an update cycle set bynetwork server 140 and configured within the software of application125. At the end of a cycle (i.e., every month, week, day, etc.),application 125 may initiate a request for the credit accountinformation from network server 140 when its host client system 120-1 to120-N has connected to network 110.

It should be noted that the above techniques for updating the creditaccount information associated with application 125 are exemplary, andnot intended to be limiting. A number of various communicationtechniques may be implemented by methods and systems consistent withfeatures of the present invention, without departing from the scope ofthe invention.

Returning to FIG. 2, once the credit account information is obtained(Step 230), which may include application 125 accessing the updatedcredit account information from a storage location within client system120-1 to 120-N, application 125 determines a type of message to display(Step 240). The manner by which application 125 determines the type ofmessage to display is described in further detail with respect to FIGS.3-9.

Once the type of message is determined, application 125 provides themessage to the browser executing within client system 120-1 to 120-N,that is rendering a web page associated with the accessed web site (Step250). The messages may be provided in such a manner that they arepresented on top of a window including a web page rendered by thebrowser and currently displayed on a display device in client system120-1 to 120-N. The messages may be displayed as banner type windows, asrolling ticker messages that scroll across a portion of the viewing areaof the display device, or as a separate pop-up window. The manner bywhich the messages are displayed are not limited to the examples above,and any number of combinations of audio and graphical presentations maybe employed to present a message in any manner well known in the art.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary flowchart of a process to determine atype of message to display (Step 240), consistent with features andprinciples of the present invention. The process begins by application125 determining whether the customer has attempted to purchase a goodand/or service from the accessed web site described in Step 220 of FIG.2 (Step 305). In one aspect of the invention, application 125 may detectan attempted purchase by recognizing when the customer indicates that afinancial transaction is being attempted by interacting with a windowprovided by application 125 on top of a browser window rendering the webpage provided by the accessed web site. For example, application 125 maybe configured to provide a default message within a window that presentsa query to the customer regarding an attempted purchase. For example,the message may include one or more icons or images (triggers) that thecustomer may select to indicate that a purchase is being attempted. Themessage may also include text requesting the customer to indicate that apurchase is being attempted. For example, the text may state, “Pleaseselect the PURCHASE icon if you will be attempting to purchase an itemat this web site.” The term “item” may be associated with a good and/orservice. Of course, any combination of text and graphics may be used bymethods and systems consistent with features of the present invention toprovide a customer with such purchase queries Furthermore, any number ofother techniques may be employed by application 125 to detect anattempted purchase by a customer, and methods and systems consistentwith features of the present invention are not limited to the aboveexamples.

Returning back to FIG. 3, if the customer has not attempted a purchaseat the web site (Step 305; NO), application 125 determines whether thecustomer message option is enabled (Step 310). If so, application 125determines the type of message to display based on the customer messageoption selected by the customer (Step 315). For example, if the customerhas selected to only receive discount messages, application 125 willbegin to perform the discount process illustrated in FIG. 4. If thealternate site message option was selected, application 125 will performthe alternate site process illustrated in FIG. 5. An account statusmessage option will direct application 125 to perform the account statusprocess depicted in FIG. 6, while an interactive account status messageoption will direct application 125 to perform the process shown in FIG.7. Additionally, if the customer selected the alternate item messageoption, the alternate item process illustrated in FIG. 8 will beperformed by application 125. And, a rating message option selected bythe customer will direct application 125 to perform the rating processshown in FIG. 9. Furthermore, in the event the customer has selected toreceive any combination of these messages, the appropriate messageprocess will be performed by application 125. Once the appropriatemessage(s) are determined by application 125, the process is directedback to Step 250 (FIG. 2) for generating the message for display (Step350).

However, if the customer has not selected the customer message option(Step 310; NO), application 125 may default by performing selectedprocesses determined by network server 140, and programmed inapplication 125. In one aspect of the invention, application 125 may bedirected to the discount process (Step 320) and the rating process (Step325) for determining the type of discount and rating messages todisplay, respectively. Following these processes, application 125 may bedirected to return to Step 250 (FIG. 2) for generating the message fordisplay (Step 330). It should be noted that application 125 may beconfigured by network server 140 to perform any combination ofprocesses, and methods and systems consistent with features of thepresent invention are not limited to the above examples.

Returning back to Step 305, if the customer has attempted to purchase agood and/or service from the accessed web site (Step 305; YES),application 125 determines whether the customer message option isenabled (Step 340). If the customer message option is enabled (Step 340;YES), application 125 determines the type of message to display based onthe customer message option selected by the customer in a manner similarto Step 315 described above (Step 345). Once the appropriate message(s)are determined by application 125, the process is directed back to Step250 (FIG. 2) for generating the message for display (Step 350).

However, if the customer message option is not enabled (Step 340; NO),application 125 may be directed to perform each process associated witha particular type of message to be rendered on top of a web browserwindow rendering a web page displayed at client system 120-1 to 120-N.As shown in FIG. 3, application 125 performs the discount process (Step355), the alternate site process (Step 360), the account status process(Step 365), the interactive account status process (Step 370), thealternate item process (Step 375), and the rating process (Step 380),before returning to Step 250 (FIG. 2) for displaying the determinedmessages (Step 350).

It should be noted that the sequence of steps and the processesillustrated in FIG. 3 are not intended to be limiting. That is,application 125 may be configured to perform any message process inalternate sequences. For example, the account status process (Step 365)may be performed before the rating process (Step 380). Furthermore,additional or less processes may be implemented by application 125 thatdetermine a particular type of message to display.

FIG. 4 shows an exemplary flowchart of the discount process, consistentwith features and principles of the present invention. As shown in FIG.4, application 125 begins the discount process begins by accessing a website list that may be stored at the client system 120-1 to 120-N thatthe customer is operating when the web site is accessed (Step 410). Theweb site list may be a table of web sites maintained by network server140 that reflect a partnership agreement between credit issuer 150 andan entity that provides the web site and associated web server 130-1 to130-N. This agreement may be to allow a listed web site's entity tooffer purchase discounts or special deals associated with goods and/orservices provided by the web site to customers of credit issuer 150. Forexample, a web site included in the web site list may reflect anagreement with credit issuer 150 to offer a 10% discount to a customerof credit issuer 150 on purchases from the web site. Of course, any typeof agreement may be implemented between an entity that provides a website and credit issuer 150, and is not limited to the above example.

In one aspect of the invention, the web site list may be stored at theclient system 120-1 to 120-N operated by the customer. The list may beupdated by network server 140 using the polite push techniques describedabove and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,913,040. That is, application 125 may issuea request to network server 140 to update or modify the list when aclient system accesses network 110 and network utilization is low.Alternatively, application 125 may ignore network usage rate, andrequest an update as soon as it detects a connection between the clientsystem 120-1 to 120-N to network 110. Furthermore, the update of the website list may take place periodically, for example once a week, or maybe performed each time the client system 120-1 to 120-N connects tonetwork 140. In another aspect of the invention, the web site list maybe stored remotely from client system 120-1 to 120-N, for example atnetwork server 140 or database 144, and accessed by application 125 whenneeded. A variety of techniques may be implemented by methods and systemconsistent with features of the present invention to ensure the web sitelist is updated, and are not limited to the above examples.

Returning back to FIG. 4, after the web site list is accessed,application 125 determines whether the accessed web site is includedwithin the web site list (Step 420). If not (Step 420; NO), application125 may determine a type of generic discount message to display (Step430). A generic discount message may be associated with web sites thatare associated with entities that do not have an agreement with creditissuer 150. The generic discount message may be configured to beassociated with a discount or special deal provided by credit issuer 150to its customers. For example, a generic discount message may reflect anindication that a customer will receive a 5% discount for any purchasemade from the accessed web site using their credit account associatedwith credit issuer 150. Alternatively, the generic message may indicatethat the customer may receive a waiver of annual fees associated withtheir credit account when a purchase is made at the accessed web siteabove a predetermined amount. As can be seen, the type of message thatapplication 125 provides may reflect any number of offers from creditissuer 150, and are not limited to the above examples. Additionally,instead of a discount message, credit issuer 150 may have configuredapplication 125 (through network server 140) to merely present anadvertisement for the credit issuer 150, or a discount if the customeraccesses a web site provided by credit issuer 150. The generic messageto be displayed may be dynamically updated and modified at any timewhile the customer's client system 120-1 to 120-N is connected tonetwork 110, in a manner similar to the techniques of updating the website list described above.

Once application 125 determines the type of generic discount message todisplay, the discount process ends and application 125 returns to theappropriate step where the discount process was invoked (Step 460). Forexample, referring to FIG. 3, the discount process was performed at Step355. Accordingly, Step 460 of the discount process would returnapplication 125 to Step 360, which may be the next step in the processshown in FIG. 3.

Referring back to Step 420, in the event the accessed web site isincluded in the list (Step 420; YES), application 125 may access amessage table corresponding to the accessed web site (Step 440). Themessage table may be a list of formatted messages provided by networkserver 140 and credit issuer 150 associated with each web site includedin the web site list. The formatted messages may include one or morepredetermined discount messages to display that application 125 mayselect. The formatted discount message may reflect various discounts orspecial offers associated with the accessed web site. These formatteddiscount messages may include, but is not limited to, a specificdiscount message associated with particular goods and/or servicesoffered by the accessed web site. For example, a first discount messageassociated with accessed web site may reflect a 10% discount on thepurchase of an item offered by the web site, while a second discountmessage may reflect a 10% on any purchase made from the accessed website using the credit account provided by credit issuer 150. As can beseen, any number of discount messages may be provided in the messagetable for each web site included in the web site list, and are notlimited to the above examples. As with the generic discount message(Step 430), the message table may be updated and modified using the sametechniques previously described for updating the web site list.

Once the message table is accessed, application 125 may determine thetype of discount message to display (i.e., chose a formatted discountmessage from the message table) (Step 450). The process of determiningthe type of discount message to display based on the message table maybe performed in a variety of ways, including, but not limited to, randomselections and predetermined criteria associated with the customer'scredit account. For example, a particular discount message may beoffered to customer whose credit limit is above a certain value, whileanother discount message may be offered to customers whose credit limitis below the value. The credit account information accessed in Step 230of FIG. 2 may be used by application 125 to perform the credit limitanalysis, and determine which discount message in the message table topresent for display. The above described criteria are exemplary and notintended to be limiting. Other criteria may be used by application 125to determine the type of formatted discount message to display from themessage table.

Once application 125 determines the type of formatted discount messageto display, the discount process ends and application 125 returns to theappropriate step where the discount process was invoked (Step 460). Itshould be noted that the sequence of steps and the processes illustratedin FIG. 4 are not intended to be limiting and application 125 may beconfigured to perform the steps of FIG. 4 in alternate sequences.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary alternate site process performed byapplication 125, consistent with features and principles of the presentinvention. As shown in FIG. 5, application 125 begins the alternate siteprocess by accessing the web site list previously described withreference to Step 410 of FIG. 4 (Step 510). Once the web site list isaccessed, application 125 determines whether the accessed web site isincluded in the web site list (Step 520). If not (Step 520; NO),application 125 may be configured to determine a profile of the accessedweb site (Step 530). A profile of a web site may be associated withparticular goods and/or services offered by the web site. For example, amerchant web site that provides clothing may be profiled as a clothingweb site. Furthermore, if the merchant web site offers only athleticclothing, the profile of the merchant web site may be set as a sportsclothing web site. Alternatively, the same merchant web site may beassociated with two profile categories: sports and clothing. Application125 may be configured to perform this analysis by determining the typesof goods and/or services provided by the web pages rendered at theclient system 120-1 to 120-N operated by the customer. Other methods andtechniques may be employed to associate a profile with the accessed website, and the examples described above are not intended to be limiting.For example, application 125 may forward the web site's identificationto network server 140 for profile processing. The profile processing maytake place using an expert system configuration, where a knowledge baseincluding selected rules defined by credit issuer 150 are employed todetermine the type of profile of the accessed web site.

Once the profile for the accessed web site is determined, application125 may access a web site profile table (Step 540). In one aspect of theinvention, a web site profile table may be maintained by network server140 and includes profile categories for the web sites included in theweb site list. This table may be configured to associate each listed website with a profile and may be located at network server 140 andaccessed by application 125 when a web site included in the list isaccessed. Alternatively, the profile table may be downloaded to clientsystem 120-1 to 120-N and accessed locally by application 125 whenneeded. Further, the web site profile table may be stored at the clientsystem 120-1 to 120-N when application 125 is registered, and updated(periodically or continuously) in a manner similar to that previouslydescribed for updating the web site list. The profile table may beassociated with the web site list, or alternatively, the web site listmay contain a field for each web site including its associated definedprofile.

After accessing the web site profile table, application 125 maydetermine whether there are any web sites in the web site list with aprofile that matches the profile of the accessed web site (Step 550). Ifso (Step 550; YES), application 125 then determines a type of alternateweb site message to display based on the determined profile (Step 560).Application 125 may be configured to perform Step 560 by selecting a website with a profile that matches the profile of the accessed web site,and configuring a message that indicates to the customer that theselected web site offers similar goods and/or services that the accessedweb site offers. This message may be combined with the discount processmessage to create a message that indicates that a discount may beobtained if the customer purchases goods and/or services at the selectedweb site with their credit account provided by credit issuer 150. Ofcourse, any combination of messages, or information, may be includedwithin the alternate site message that indicate that an alternate site(one with an agreement with credit issuer 150) provides goods and/orservices similar to that provided by the accessed web site.

In another aspect of the invention, if the web site profile tableindicates that there are more than one web site included in the web sitelist that matches the profile of the accessed web site, application 125may randomly select a single web site to include in the alternate website message. Alternatively, application 125 may also include a list ofall of the matching web sites in the message. Other techniques may beimplemented by application 125 to select one or more alternate web sitesto include in the alternate web site message. For example, the messagetable previously described with reference to FIG. 4 may include, foreach listed web site, alternate web site formatted messages thatindicate the types of goods and/or services provided by a respective website. Application 125 may access the message table and select theappropriate formatted message for display by client system 120-1 to120-N.

Returning back to Step 550, in the event there are no alternate websites with a profile that matches the profile of the accessed web site(Step 550; NO), the alternate web site process ends and application 125returns to the appropriate step where the alternate web site process wasinvoked (Step 570).

Referring back to Step 520, if the accessed web site is included in theweb site list (Step 520; YES), application 125 accesses the web siteprofile table (Step 540) and determines whether there are any web sitesin the web site table that match the profile of the accessed web site aspreviously described (Step 550). Additionally, as described above, ifthere are matching web sites (Step 550; YES), application 125 thendetermines a type of alternate web site message to display based on thedetermined profile (Step 560). Once application 125 determines theappropriate alternate web site message to display, the alternate website process ends and application 125 returns to the appropriate stepwhere the alternate web site process was invoked (Step 570).

It should be noted that the sequence of steps and the processesillustrated in FIG. 5 are not intended to be limiting and application125 may be configured to perform the steps of FIG. 5 in alternatesequences.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary account status process performed byapplication 125, consistent with features and principles of the presentinvention. As shown in FIG. 6, application 125 may begin the accountstatus process by retrieving the current status of the credit accountassociated with the customer corresponding to application 125 (Step605). The current account status may include, but is not limited to, acurrent credit limit, outstanding balance, and interest rate associatedwith the credit account of the customer. Additionally, the status of thecredit account may also include data reflecting transaction historyinformation such as previous purchases with the credit account, past dueamounts, finance fees, and any other type of information associated withthe credit account. The credit account status information may beobtained from the information retrieved in Step 230 of FIG. 2 and storedlocally within the client system 120-1 to 120-N operated by thecustomer.

After the status of the customer's credit account is retrieved,application 125 may determine whether the customer attempted to purchasea good and/or service from the accessed web site in a manner similar tothat described for Step 305 of FIG. 3 (Step 610). If the customer hasnot attempted to make a purchase (Step 610; NO), application 125 maydetermine a type of generic account status message to display (Step615). The generic account status message may include the informationretrieved in Step 605, such as current credit limit and outstandingbalance. Additionally, the generic account status message may includethe transaction history information associated with the credit account.Alternatively, the generic account message may include an indication ofwhen a next payment is due (if any) to credit issuer 150, as well as anypenalty fees that may or may not be assessed if the payment is late.Furthermore, the generic status message may include an indication thatthere is a payment past due, as well as the amount of the payment andany associated penalty fees. As can be seen, any type of informationassociated with the credit account may be included or excluded from thegeneric account status message. Application 125 may be configured toprovide credit account data determined by network server 140, or maydetermine the information to include in the message autonomously.

Returning back to Step 610, if application 125 determines that thecustomer has attempted to make a purchase at the accessed web site (Step610; YES), the rank of the credit account may be determined (Step 625).The rank of the credit account may reflect a value used by credit issuer150 (and application 125) to segregate certain types of customers fromothers. For instance, a customer with a credit account that has a lowrank value (such as 1 out of 10) may be determined to be a highly valuedcustomer. The determination may be based on the customer's paymenthistory (always on time), number of purchases (the customer uses thecredit account quite often), and the outstanding balance (the customertends to keep a balance associated with the credit account).Alternatively, the ranking may be based purely on the outstandingbalance and/or credit limit of the credit account. For example, a creditaccount may receive a lower rank based on the value of its credit limitbecause generally higher credit limits are offered to customers with alower credit risk. Other techniques to determine a rank value for thecredit account may be employed by methods and systems consistent withfeatures of the present invention and are not limited to the examplesdescribed above.

Once the credit account is ranked, application 125 may perform one ormore sub-processes of the account status process. In one aspect of theinvention, application server 125 may be configured to perform anaccount adjustment sub-process (Step 660), an overlimit messagesub-process (Step 630) and determine a generic account status message(Step 615), either simultaneously (via multi-tasking operations) orsequentially. Alternatively, application 125 may be configured toperform only one of the above mentioned sub-processes or a combinationof two of them.

The overlimit message sub-process (Step 630) begins by application 125determining the total amount of the attempted purchase (Step 635). Inone aspect of the invention, application 125 may determine a purchaseamount by providing a query in a message provided on top of the browserwindow displayed at client system 120-1 to 120-N. The query message mayrequest the customer to provide a purchase amount by entering in theamount using an input device, such as a keyboard. The query message mayinclude graphics and/or text that requests the purchase amount from thecustomer. Icons or other graphical images may be used to allow acustomer to complete an indication of a purchase amount. The customermay obtain the purchase amount information be simple transferring thecost of an item (or items) from the rendered web page to the messagewindow provided by application 125. This may be done by well known dataentry techniques, including data cut and paste operations known in theart.

Once the purchase amount is provided by a customer, application 125compares the credit limit associated with the credit account with thetotal amount of the purchase (Step 640) and determines whether the totalamount and the outstanding balance exceeds the credit limit (Step 645).If the total amount for the purchase and outstanding balance does notexceed the credit limit, application 125 returns processing to the stepthat invoked the account status process (Step 650). Alternatively, aspreviously discussed, application 125 may determine whether the othersub-processes have been executed yet, and if not, may begin performingthose non-executed sub-processes.

Returning back to Step 645, if the amount of the total purchase doesexceed the credit limit of the credit account (Step 645; YES),application 125 determines a type of overlimit message to display (Step655) and then returns processing to the step that invoked the accountstatus process (Step 650).

In one aspect of the invention, the type of overlimit messages thatapplication 125 may choose may vary based on the rank of the creditaccount. For example, a credit account with a low rank (which may depicta valued customer by credit issuer 150) may receive a credit limitextension message. That is, suppose the credit limit and outstandingbalance for a credit account with a low rank value is $1000, and $500,respectively. Further suppose the customer has attempted to purchase anitem for $600. In this example, application 125 may be configured toprovide a message that reflects that the credit limit will be exceededif the purchase is made. In addition to the credit limit information,application 125 may be configured to include in the message an offer fora credit limit extension if the item is purchased using the creditaccount. The extension may be equal or greater to that of the totalamount of the item to be purchased, such as $100 for the above example.In one aspect of the invention, another message may be provided byapplication 125 that requests acceptance from the customer for thecredit limit extension. This may be performed through text and/orgraphics, such as icons, that may be selected to indicate acceptance ofthe credit limit extension. Once accepted by a customer, application 125may be configured to provide the credit limit extension acceptance tocredit issuer 150, where the appropriate credit account parameters maybe adjusted to reflect the credit limit extension. Subsequently, creditissuer 150 may provide an acknowledgment of the extension to application125, which in turn, may provide another message indicating to thecustomer that the credit limit has been extended and for what amount.

In another aspect of the invention, a credit account with a high rankvalue may direct application 125 to provide an overlimit message withoutan offer for a credit limit extension. Accordingly, application 125 maydetermine a type of overlimit message based on the rank of the creditaccount, and the results of the process performed in Step 645.Application 125, however, is not restricted using a credit account'srank to determine a type of overlimit message to display. In one aspectof the invention, application 125 may be configured to only provide amessage with an overlimit warning. A number of various techniques may beemployed by application 125 to determine a type of overlimit message andthe above examples of the overlimit messages not intended to be limitingand may include or exclude various credit account information.

The account adjustment sub-process (Step 660) begins by application 125determining the total amount of the attempted purchase (Step 665). Thismay be performed in a manner similar to that previously described forStep 635. Afterwards, application 125 applies the total amount toselected credit account parameters, such as credit limit and outstandingbalance, to determine a new credit account status (Step 670). Forexample, suppose a credit account associated with the customer has acurrent credit limit of $1000 and an outstanding balance of $700, and anattempted purchase of $200. In this example, application 125 woulddetermine that the new outstanding balance would be $100 if theattempted purchase was actually made. Additionally adjustments may alsobe made based on the configuration of application 125 and the criteriadesired by credit issuer 150. For example, application 125 may beconfigured to determine a new minimum payment amount that would be dueif the purchase was made, and the amount of finance fees that would beincurred if only minimum payments were made for a predetermined amountof time (i.e., 12 months). A variety of credit account adjustments maybe made based on the attempted purchase, and are not limited to theexamples described above.

Once application 125 has made the appropriate adjustments to the creditaccount, a type of account adjustment message is determined (Step 675),and the process may return to the step that invoked the account statusprocess (Step 680). Alternatively, as previously discussed, application125 may determine whether the other sub-processes have been executedyet, and if not, may begin performing those non-executed sub-processes.

It should be noted that the sequence of steps and the processesillustrated in FIG. 6 are not intended to be limiting and application125 may be configured to perform the steps of FIG. 6 in alternatesequences.

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary flowchart of the interactive accountstatus process performed by application 125, consistent with featuresand principles of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 7, application125 begins the interactive account status process by retrieving thecurrent status of the credit account associated with the customercorresponding to application 125 in a manner similar to that describedfor Step 605 of FIG. 6 (Step 710). Once the account status informationis retrieved, application 125 may determine the type of generic accountstatus message to display, in a manner similar to that previouslydescribed for Step 615 of FIG. 6 (Step 720). Next, application 125 maydetermine the total amount for the attempted purchase detected in Step305 of FIG. 3 (Step 730). The purchase amount may be determined in amanner similar to that previously described for Step 635 (FIG. 6).Afterwards, application 125 may provide an account calculation option tothe browser executing within the client system 120-1 to 120-N operatedby the customer (Step 740).

The calculation option may be a message that presents one or moreoptions to a customer to aid them in determining how their creditaccount will be affected if the attempted purchase is made. For example,in one aspect of the invention, the calculation option may allow acustomer to determine how long (i.e., how many monthly payments) itwould take to pay off the total purchase amount for a fixed paymentamount. In this example, the customer would be allowed to present thefictitious payment amount and application 125 would calculate the numberof payments to pay off the purchase. Alternatively, the customer may beallowed to determine what amount would need to be paid to credit issuer150 for each of a fixed number of payments cycles (i.e., months) to payoff the amount of the total attempted purchase using the credit account.In this example, the customer may provide the number of payment cycles.

It should be noted that the examples described are exemplary and notintended to be limiting. A number of different options may be providedby application 125 to the customer to provide an interactive tool thatenables a customer to view changes to their credit account, based oncriteria defined by the customer.

Once the customer provides a response to the particular type of resultsthey wish to see, application 125 utilizes the results to adjust thestatus of the credit account to determine a type of interactive accountstatus message to display (Step 750). For instance, following theexamples above, a customer may include in the response an indication todetermine the number of monthly payments it would take to pay off apurchase transaction at the current interest rate for the creditaccount. Application 125 may perform these calculations, and provide amessage that indicates the number of payments, and possibly the financefees the customer would have to pay during that time frame as well.Accordingly, methods, systems, and articles of manufacturer consistentwith features of the present invention enable a customer to interactwith an initial account status message that may show the current creditaccount parameters for the credit account in order to view the changesto their account associated with an attempted purchase. In this aspectof the invention, a customer merely has to indicate a purchase price ofa selected goods and/or service in a manner similar to that described inStep 635 (FIG. 6). Application 125 may then provide a message fordisplay that allows the customer to analyze the affects of the attemptedpurchase on their credit account, as well as determine various paymentoptions that appeal to the customer's financial lifestyle.

Returning back to FIG. 7, once the appropriate message type isdetermined, the interactive account status process ends, and application125 returns to the step that invoked this process (Step 760).

It should be noted that the sequence of steps and the processesillustrated in FIG. 7 are not intended to be limiting and application125 may be configured to perform the steps of FIG. 7 in alternatesequences.

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary alternate item process performed byapplication 125, consistent with features and principles of the presentinvention. As shown in FIG. 8, application 125 may begin the alternateitem process by determining the item that is attempted to be purchasedat the accessed web site (Step 810). The term “item” may be associatedwith a good and/or service provided by the accessed web site, andattempted to be purchased by a customer. Additionally, the type of itemmay be very specific (i.e., specified by serial or catalog number) orgeneric (general description such as a football, golf ball, etc.).Application 125 may determine the type of item based on profiles,catalog numbers, serial numbers, text description associated with theitem, that may be provided by the customer through an item query windowprovided by application 125. The item query window may enable a customerto provide a description of the item to be purchases, catalog, SKU, andserial number, purchase price of the item. Alternatively, the item querywindow may provide a drop down menu of predetermined categories ofitems, such as clothing, vehicles, etc., that the customer may use todescribe the item to be purchased. There are a number of different waysmethods and systems consistent with features of the present inventionmay determine the type of item to be purchased, and are not limited tothe above examples.

Once the type of the item attempted to be purchased is determined,application 125 determines whether there is a similar or identical itemincluded in an item list maintained by network server 140 (Step 830).The item list may be associated with the web site list, and possibly theprofile table, and may reflect items provided by each web site. The itemlist may include descriptive information in various details, dependingupon the level of granularity credit issuer 150 wishes to provide in thealternate item process. In one aspect of the invention, variousdescription fields reflecting detailed identification codes aremaintained for each item provided by each web site in the web site list.The description fields may provide detailed information associated witha particular item, such as serial numbers, manufacturer codes, etc. Inanother aspect of the invention, the description fields may include lessdescriptive information associated with each item, such as a generaldescription and perhaps manufacturer code.

In the event the item to be purchased is not included in the item list(Step 830; NO), application 125 may determine a type of item message todisplay (Step 840). In one aspect of the invention, the item message mayinclude an indication that the particular item to be purchased is notoffered by any alternate web sites included in the credit issuer's 150database. A variety of various messages may be provided by application125, and methods and systems consistent with features of the presentinvention are not limited to the above example. Once the type of itemmessage is determined by application 125, the alternate item ends, andapplication 125 is directed back to the step that invoked the alternateitem process (Step 880).

Returning back to step 830, if the item to be purchased is locatedwithin the item list (Step 830; YES), application 125 may then beconfigured to compare the price of each item (Step 850). In one aspectof the invention, the customer may have provided the purchase price ofthe item to be purchased when it was described in Step 810.Alternatively, another window message may be provided by application 125that allows the user to provide the purchase price of the item, in amanner similar to that described for Step 635 (FIG. 6).

If the item to be purchased is determined by application 125 to becheaper than that the matching item in the item list (Step 860; NO), atype of item message may be determined, similar to that described above(Step 840). In one aspect of the invention, application 125 may providean item message that indicates that the purchase amount for the item tobe purchased at the accessed web site is the cheapest according creditissuer's 125 database. Processing then continues to Step 880 for returnback to the step that invoked the alternate item process (Step 880).

If the purchase price, however, of the item to be purchased is notcheaper than the matching item included in the item list (Step 860;YES), application 125 may determine a type of item message that reflectsthis (Step 870). That is, the item message may include an indicationthat the particular item, or one similar to it, may be purchased at acheaper price at an identified alternate web site. The message may alsoinclude a hyper link to the alternate site as well. Other types ofindications may be included within the determined item message, and arenot limited to the above example. Once application 125 determines thetype of item message to display, processing is returned to the step thatinitiated the alternate item process.

It should be noted that the sequence of steps and the processesillustrated in FIG. 8 are not intended to be limiting and application125 may be configured to perform the steps of FIG. 8 in alternatesequences.

FIG. 9 shows an exemplary flowchart of the rating process performed byapplication 125, consistent with features and principles of the presentinvention. As shown in FIG. 9, the rating process begins withapplication 125 determining whether the accessed web site is included ina rating table (Step 910). The rating table may be a listing of websites that are associated with a rating value provided by credit issuer150. The rating value may be based on a variety of criteria including,but not limited to, fraudulent activity, security problems, customerservice, product distribution, and any other type of category that maybe associated with a merchant web site. In one aspect of the invention,credit issuer 150 provides a rating table for selected web sites thathave been reported by customers, and even outside entities, such asreporting agencies.

Returning back to step 810, if the accessed web site is not included inthe rating table, application 125 may end the rating process and returnback to the step that invoked the rating process (Step 940). On theother hand, if the accessed web site is included in the web site (Step810; YES), application 125 determines a type of message to display basedon the rating value associated with the accessed web site (Step 920).The rating message may include indications of the rating value orvalues, and their associated definitions. Furthermore, the criteria forrating the web site may be included in the message, such as the variousvalues a web site may receive, and their corresponding criteria. As canbe seen, any number of rating categories may be provided by creditissuer 150, and are not limited to the above examples.

Once the type of rating message is determined by application 125,another indication may be provided in the message that offers thecustomer an opportunity to personally rate the web site (Step 930). Inone aspect of the invention, the message may include the appropriatecategories and rating values to select for the accessed web site. Thecustomer, once the message is actually displayed, may select a ratingvalue and this information is passed to network server 140 for updatingthe rating table. Alternatively, the rating table may be stored locallyat the client system 120-1 to 120-N, and application 125 may update thetable accordingly. Furthermore, the rating message may include ahyperlink that automatically sends the personal rating value to networkserver 140 when selected. A number of different techniques may beimplemented by methods and systems consistent with features of thepresent invention that enable the rating table to be updated with thecustomer's personal rating value. The rating process may end at Step 940either after the customer provides a personal rating response, orimmediately after the rating message is configured according to processSteps 920 and 930.

As described, methods and systems consistent with features andprinciples of the present invention enable a credit issuer to provide anapplication to a customer's computer system that enables the customer toreceive credit account messages while browsing web sites over a network.The credit account messages may be dynamic in that credit account statusinformation may automatically change according to attempted purchases ofgoods and/or services at a merchant's web site. Additionally, the creditaccount messages may also be interactive and enable a customer to tailorspecific credit account information to determine specific changes totheir credit account based on an attempted purchase at an accessed website. Furthermore, in addition to credit account messages, ratingmessages may be provided that indicate a rating value associated withthe accessed web site. Moreover, the customer may participate in ratingthe web site by providing a personal rating value to the credit issuerusing the rating message as a response vehicle.

Variations of the methods and systems consistent with features of thepresent invention previously described may be implemented withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention. For example, the types ofmessage described above may be altered and changed in any format tocomply with the credit issuer's marketing strategies. Also, application125 may be configured to perform only one or more of the processdepicted in FIG. 3, as well as new processes not shown in the figures.Furthermore, the message windows provided by application 125 that allowcustomers to provide information associated with an item (or items) tobe purchased may be configured to request any combination ofinformation. That is, at any time a single query message window may beprovided by application 125 that allows a customer to enter in thepurchase price of an item, the description of the item, or request aninteractive calculation associated with their account. Also, a defaultwindow may be provided by application 125 when the customer firstaccesses a web site, wherein the default window may provide icons orselections associated with various types of messages to be displayed.That is, for example, an icon may be provided in the default window thatis associated with the account status process describe din FIG. 6, whileanother icon may be provided that is associated with the interactiveaccount status process described in FIG. 7. Therefore, application 125may be configured to allow the customer to selectively choose which typeof message to display dynamically, using a default interactive messagewindow that includes selections for any combination of processes offeredby application 125.

Additionally, methods and system consistent with the present inventionmay be implemented by a variety of financial institutions andorganizations, and by the customers of these entities. The term “credit”may be associated with any type of financial account that individualsmay utilize to purchase goods and/or services and is not intended to belimiting.

Furthermore, various processes performed by application 125 may beperformed by credit issuer 150 and/or network server 140. For example,application 125 may be configured to only request and retrieveinformation from network server 140, while network server 140 performsthe processes depicted in FIGS. 3-9. Alternatively, any combination ofprocesses may be shared by application 125 and network server 140 toperform the functions consistent with features of the present invention.

Furthermore, although aspects of the present invention are described asbeing associated with data stored in memory and other storage mediums,one skilled in the art will appreciate that these aspects can also bestored on or read from other types of computer-readable media, such assecondary storage devices, like hard disks, floppy disks, or CD-ROM; acarrier wave from the Internet; or other forms of RAM or ROM.Accordingly, the invention is not limited to the above describedembodiments, but instead is defined by the appended claims in light oftheir full scope of equivalents

1-17. (canceled)
 18. A method for providing messages to a user locatedat a client site attached to a network while the client site isdisplaying a web page associated with a web site provided by a webserver through the network, the method comprising: providing a list ofone or more web sites, wherein the list includes, for each web site, arating associated with a perceived quality of the respective web site;determining that the web site provided by the web server is included inthe list; retrieving the rating associated with the web site from thelist; and presenting a message for display along with the web page,wherein the message includes the rating.
 19. The method of claim 18,wherein the list is provided from a financial account issuer to anapplication located at the client system, and wherein the applicationperforms the steps of determining, retrieving and presenting.
 20. Themethod of claim 19, wherein the application performs the steps ofdetermining, retrieving and presenting without intervention from thefinancial account issuer.
 21. The method of claim 20, furthercomprising: presenting a request to the user to rate the web site. 22.The method of claim 21, further comprising: providing the user rating tothe financial account issuer; and updating the rating of the web sitebased on the user rating.
 23. The method of claim 20, wherein themessage is one of a rolling ticker message and a pop up window. 24-55.(canceled)
 56. A computer-readable medium including instructions forperforming a method, when executed by a processor, for providingmessages to a user located at a client site attached to a network whilethe client site is displaying a web page associated with a web siteprovided by a web server through the network, the method comprising:providing a list of one or more web sites, wherein the list includes,for each web site, a rating associated with a perceived quality of therespective web site; determining that the web site provided by the webserver is included in the list; retrieving the rating associated withthe web site from the list; and presenting a message for display alongwith the web page, wherein the message includes the rating.
 57. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 56, wherein the list is provided froma financial account issuer to an application located at the clientsystem, and wherein the application performs the steps of determining,retrieving and presenting.
 58. The computer-readable medium of claim 57,wherein the application performs the steps of determining, retrievingand presenting without intervention from the financial account issuer.59. The computer-readable medium of claim 58, further comprising:presenting a request to the user to rate the web site.
 60. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 59, further comprising: providing theuser rating to the financial account issuer; and updating the rating ofthe web site based on the user rating.
 61. The computer-readable mediumof claim 58, wherein the message is one of a rolling ticker message anda pop up window. 62-91. (canceled)
 92. A system for providing messagesto a user located at a client site attached to a network while theclient site is displaying a web page associated with a web site providedby a web server through the network, the system comprising: means forproviding a list of one or more web sites, wherein the list includes,for each web site, a rating associated with a perceived quality of therespective web site; means for determining that the web site provided bythe web server is included in the list; means for retrieving the ratingassociated with the web site from the list; and means for presenting amessage for display along with the web page, wherein the messageincludes the rating.
 93. The system of claim 92, wherein the list isprovided from a financial account issuer to an application located atthe client system, and wherein the application is associated with themeans for determining, retrieving and presenting.
 94. The system ofclaim 93, wherein the means for determining, retrieving and presentingperform their respective functions without intervention from thefinancial account issuer.
 95. The system of claim 94, furthercomprising: means for presenting a request to the user to rate the website.
 96. The system of claim 95, further comprising: means forproviding the user rating to the financial account issuer; and means forupdating the rating of the web site based on the user rating.
 97. Thesystem of claim 94, wherein the message is one of a rolling tickermessage and a pop up window. 98-109. (canceled)